Why is the 2023 Asian Cup held in the summer while the 2022 World Cup is held in the winter?

After the end of Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup, which is highly anticipated, Qatar will once again be on the verge of hosting a new tournament that people are looking forward to, the 2023 Asian Cup.

The Asian Football Confederation has announced that Qatar will organize the 2023 Asian Cup after Qatar’s file overtakes Indonesia and South America, so that Qatar’s glow continues at the level of organizing major sporting events.

But what raises doubts is the date of the Asian Cup 2023. If the World Cup was moved from summer to winter so that the atmosphere was suitable, how can a full tournament at the Cup level be hosted in the summer? of Asia?

To answer this question, we first need to review the dates of previous Asian Cup tournaments and also know when the 2023 Asian Cup will be held.

When will the 2023 Asian Cup take place?

The 2023 Asian Cup will be held in the summer, specifically between June 16 and July 16, 2023, and its establishment at that time raised many questions.

The research of history makes us well aware that the Asian continent, which is the largest in the world by surface, has a climate that plays an important role in the organization of its most important tournament, the Asian Cup.

Therefore, the climatic factors of the host country are the most important determinant of the date of the Asian Cup.

There were 8 previous editions held in the summer, namely 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 2004 and 2007, while 6 editions were held in the winter season, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2011, 2015 and 2019, and Three editions took place between summer and winter, namely 1960, 1992 and 2000.

Hence, the dates throughout history are not established in the Asian Cup, so the tournament will take place at a specific time, unlike for example the African Championship, which is usually held in winter, but some considerations move it to the summer.

Why has the Asian Cup changed since the last version?

Some might say that holding the World Cup in the summer, as usual, and then the Asian Cup in the winter, is better for world football, but this may not be better for the level of the two leagues.

The European teams with the largest share of the World Cup (13 teams) will not get used to the Qatar summer heat, which will make it difficult to participate in the tournament right now, and this has been known since the beginning of the Qatar dossier in its preparatory campaign to organize the World Cup.

The Asian Cup can be played in winter, but two main factors cannot be overlooked: the first is that Asian professional players in European clubs will not return to their leagues, then, given that the World Cup will be played at the end of 2022 and then the new year begins with the 2023 Asian Cup, and this will mean that clubs will lose Asian players for extended periods of the season.

On the other hand, Qatar will have to collect its cards after hosting the World Cup and prepare to organize a major tournament the size of the Asian Cup to promote it adequately, and a 6-month period is certainly enough for that.

When will the 2022 World Cup take place?

As for the World Cup, we are facing the first winter World Cup in history, Qatar 2022 will have a unique advantage by holding it from 20 November to 18 December 2022.

All previous World Cups have taken place in the summer, so many consider the Qatar 2022 World Cup to be exceptional.

The issue has been greeted with derision by European clubs, who will have to leave their players for around two months before returning to local battles, which could lose performance rates and cause injuries, not to mention the physical effort put into that away match.

Why change the date of the 2022 World Cup?

Although the stadiums of the Qatar 2022 World Cup are equipped with high-level air conditioning systems, even inside the pitch, this has not made FIFA stop holding the tournament in winter, as requested by Qatar.

High temperatures in Qatar during the summer (averaging 35 to 45 degrees Celsius) are the reason behind the matter, and the former FIFA secretary general said in a press release in 2014: “If the World Cup it is played in November and December, to be an adequate solution, that time is the best time in Qatar, the matches will be at temperatures equivalent to those of the European summer, which is ideal for playing football. “